The Internet Archive, home to the popular Wayback Machine, has fallen victim to what hackers claim is a “catastrophic” cyberattack. The incident, which occurred on Wednesday, has reportedly compromised the personal information of 31 million users and temporarily disabled the organization’s core services.
A group identifying itself as SN_BlackMeta, linked to a pro-Palestinian hacktivist movement, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The breach exposed users’ email addresses and screen names, with encrypted passwords also affected.
Brewster Kahle, founder and digital librarian of the Internet Archive, confirmed the breach in a statement on social media. “What we know: DDOS attack–fended off for now; defacement of our website via JS library; breach of usernames/email/salted-encrypted passwords,” Kahle reported. He added that the organization has disabled the compromised JavaScript library, is currently scrubbing systems, and upgrading security measures.
The attack involved not only data theft but also a series of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, which continue to affect the archive.org website and have rendered the Wayback Machine inaccessible.
Cybersecurity experts are advising users to change their passwords and avoid browsing or using any files obtained from the site until the Internet Archive declares an “all clear.”
This breach raises serious concerns about the vulnerability of major internet institutions and the potential for politically motivated cyberattacks. The Internet Archive, founded in 1996, has been a crucial resource for preserving digital history, hosting billions of webpages, texts, audio recordings, videos, and software applications.
As the situation develops, users and organizations alike are reminded of the critical importance of robust cybersecurity measures in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
The Internet Archive has stated it will share more information as it becomes available. Meanwhile, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing challenges in protecting vast stores of digital information in the face of sophisticated cyber threats.
